Rotary agglomerating presses



May 16, 1961 J. WALD 2,984,192

ROTARY AGGLOMERATING PRES-SE8 Filed March 3, 1959 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y M 6 Q Altlorney May 16, 1961 J. WALD 2,984,192

ROTARY AGGLOMERATING PRESSES Filed. March 5, 1959 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Inventor y M (b 9 4 Attorney United States Patent '"ce ROTARY AGGLOMERATING PRESSES Joseph Wald, Slough, England, assignor to Templewood Hawksley Limited, Slough, England Filed Mar. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 796,788

Claims priority, application Great Britain Aug. 12, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 107--14) This invention relates to the type of rotary press for agglomerating materials (more especially animal fodder) into cylindrical lumps or pellets, comprising a die mounted on a shaft arranged to be rotated, and a stationary co-acting member in the base of a supply hopper, said co-acting member carrying rollers whose pins or axles are accommodated in bores formed therein.

In presses of this type it has been usual to provide means for thoroughly mixing the material with water or other liquid before it enters the member co-acting with the rotary die. This arrangement complicates the construction and operation of the press.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this disadvantage and provide a simplified construction of press of the type first herein set forth.

In accordance with the invention means are provided for introducing water or other liquid into the material at points just inside the die and in front of the aforesaid rollers whereby, as I have found from experiment, premixing of liquid and material is unnecessary.

By way of example one form of rotary press in accordance with the invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawings, whereon:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the press;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line IIII of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the roller-carrying member.

A tripod stand, only two legs 1 of which are visible in Fig. 1, supports a supply hopper 2 at the bottom of which there is a stationary member 3 having two diametrically oppositely situated bores for the pins or axles 4 of two rollers 5. The rollers themselves are free to rotate in pockets 3a, 3a (Fig. 3) in the bottom part of the member 3 which (Fig. 2) is surrounded by a rotatable die consisting of a cylindrical ring 7 and a bottom disclike member 8 secured to one another as by bolts (not shown). The die 7, 8 is retained in assembly with a shaft 9 extending upwards through the member 3 and the hopper 2 by a stud bolt 10 and is secured to a bearing bush 11 rotatable with the shaft by a shear pin 12. The shaft 9 is coupled at 13 to another aligned shaft 14 arranged to be driven from a motor 15 through suitable reduction gearing. The ring 7 of the die has perforations 16 for the issue of the material that is compressed and consolidated by the action of the rollers 5 as the die 7, 8 rotates.

In the base of the hopper 2 above the stationary member 3 there is fixed on the die shaft 9 a plate or disc 17 provided with radial fins 18 or the like on its upper surface, and in the peripheral wall of the hopper at the location of this disc there are two diametrically opposite openings 19 controlled by a ring 20 turnable by means of an outwardly projecting handle (not shown) this ring 20 having two diametrically opposed ports 21. By turning the ring 20 the effective area of the openings 19 can be varied at will to control the outflow of material from the hopper 2 between zero and the maximum per- 2,984,192 Patented May 16, 1961 mitted by said openings. The openings 19 communicate with two feed channels 22 that lead down into the interior of the die 7, 8.

Reference 6 denotes scraper knives on the lower surface of the stationary member 3 and close to upper internal surface of the member 8 of the rotatable die; 23 denotes an adjustably supported abutment; and 24 (Fig. 2) denotes a conduit for the supply of water or other liquid to the interior of the die.

In the operation of the machine material falling from the hopper 2 on to the rotating disc 17 is thrown out- Wards by centrifugal force and passes via the openings 19, 21 into the feed channels 22 whence it drops into the die chamber where it is compressed and consolidated by the action of the rollers 5 as the die 7, B rotates. The material in this state is expressed through the die perforations 16 in rod form and as each issuing rod strikes the stationary abutment 23 it is broken off into a short cylindrical lump or pellet.

Water or other liquid is introduced into the material at points just inside the die ring 7 and in front of the rollers 5 by the conduit 24 so that premixing of liquid and material is unnecessary.

Although one form of the press has been described and illustrated it will be understood that constructional modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims that follow.

I claim:

1. A rotary press for agglomerating materials into cylindrical lumps or pellets, comprising a frame, a substantially vertical shaft rotatably mounted in the frame, means supported on the frame for rotating the shaft, a hopper surrounding the shaft, a peripherally perforated die chamber below the hopper rotatable with the shaft, a roller supporting member attached to the bottom portion of said hopper in stationary, superimposed relation to said rotary die, means for feeding material from the hopper into the die chamber, rollers in the die chamber having axles journalled in bores in the roller supporting member thereby to compress the material as the die chamber rotates and express it through said perforations in rod form, an abutment adjacent the die chamber for breaking the material into lumps of the required size, at least one conduit for introducing liquid into the die chamber in front of the rollers whereby premixing of liquid and material is unnecessary, the die chamber consisting of a bottom disc-like member and a peripherally perforated ring secured together.

2. A rotary press for agglomerating materials into cylindrical lumps or pellets, comprising a frame, a substantially vertical shaft rotatably mounted in the frame, means supported on the frame for rotating the shaft, a hopper surrounding the shaft, die means defining a peripherally perforated die chamber below the hopper rotatable with the shaft, a roller supporting member attached to the bottom portion of said hopper in stationary, superimposed relation to said rotary die, means for feeding material from the hopper into the die chamber, rollers in the die chamber having axles journalled in bores in the roller supporting member thereby to compress the material as the die chamber rotates and express it through said perforations in rod form, an abutment adjacent the die chamber for breaking the material into lumps of the required size, knives on the lower surface of the stationary roller-carrying member for scraping the interior bottom of the rotatable die chamber, a shear pin securing the die means to the shaft and constituting a safety device in the event of a hard foreign body being trapped between the rollers and the rotatable die chamber, and a conduit for introducing liquid into the die chamber in front of the rollers whereby premixing of References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Shafer Aug. 19, 1941 Lloyd Aug. 18, 1942 Meakin Sept. 15, 194-2 Sizer June 16, 1953 Johnson Feb. 1, 1955 

